Attachment Chain for Tracked Drive - Where to find?

[TheClaw]

I am designing a featherweight "replica" of Mortis for a nearby "Sportsman"(no spinners, no wedges, everything else goes) featherweight event. I live in the northeastern United States, and the sportsman class is really popular here. I know that tracked drive has a lot of drawbacks when compared to wheels, but I have decided on tracks for the "coolness factor", and in a class without spinners, there is less risk of the tracks getting damaged.

I have most of the parts I need, but my biggest obstacle right now is finding a source of attachment chain. Attachment chain is the kind of roller chain with flanges on the side of each link. I've seen a lot of robots that have used attachment chain to make tracked drive, Mortis being the most well known. I have found a bunch of manufacturers of attachment chain, but nearly all of these only sell wholesale. Does anyone know of a source for this sort of chain?

[Niels - Team K.a.L.M.]

I know the ones found on milk bottle cleaners were used on occasion.

[TheClaw]

Yeah, the chain used in bottle cleaners is the stuff I was talking about (attachment chain). The use of attachment chain for tracked drive is very popular among RC tank hobbyists. I did a bit of investigation, and it seems that the sources of surplus attachment chain has dried up in the United States.

I found out that a major manufacturer of attachment chain (Renold), does offer retail sales. Coincidentally, this is where the Mortis team got the material for their tracks. I will give customer service a call tomorrow to see how much several feet of the stuff would cost.

[Daniel]

I've been interested in attachment chain too but I can never find any that's easy to get my hands on. Most places only sell single links which can get costly if you want 40-60. I've thought about China but never sent any enquires. Here is one factory that says it does mininium quantities of 1m but I'm not sure how believable that is. http://www.alibaba.com/product-detai...037354102.html
Let us know how it goes because I'll be copying.

[Max]

With Chinese manufacturers you can often claim to be interested in large quantities but say you require a small sample first. Pay relatively little for the sample then once received email back saying "sorry but I'm no longer interested."